"Scary" Killzone 2 Ads Cause Backlash
Killzone 2Whenever we step outside our doors we're assaulted by a fresh wave of hypocrisy and double standards. It's simply the way of the world.
According to GamePolitics, Sony has been asked to remove poster advertisements for Killzone 2 in a bus kiosk in Toronto, Canada. As the Toronto Star reports, elementary school teacher Davis Mirza complained that kids shouldn't be exposed to the menacing imagery in the poster. Said Mirza:
"My kids, who come from a lot of different countries, who have to experience violence, who basically come here to seek shelter and safety, that's the stuff they don't need to see. [The ad features a] menacing head with glowing eyes... [and a war zone] like Iraq...
I don't think that when you're in Scarborough, where we're having to deal on a constant basis with violence, that does anything to help promote any kind of community renewal or even responsibility."
Oh yes, that's the first thing I thought of when I saw the dark, gritty futuristic atmosphere of a KZ2 ad: "Iraq." Mm-hm. It also doesn't help that the York Region Transit line of bus shelters has now received another complaint about the frightening poster; this one coming from a concerned parent, who said his three-year-old boy wouldn't go to school after seeing the poster. His father said the Helghast seemed like a monster, and the boy thought it would be waiting at school to "get him." While we certainly don't condone the wrong sort of material falling into the wrong hands, this just seems absurd. All of it.
The commercial for "Last House on the Left" is a hundred times more frightening than a silly and extremely vague poster in a bus kiosk, and that commercial is on six hundred times per hour on every last channel on earth. There's more frightening imagery in "Pirates of the Caribbean" and those movies aren't even rated "R." Last I checked, parents were bringing toddlers to see those films (brilliant move, that), and we're complaining about a poster with a helmet and red eyes. ...why do we get the sneaking suspicion that if it had been a movie poster, this never would've been a story?
Related Game(s): Killzone 2
3/15/2009 Ben Dutka
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Comments (50 posts)
souljah92
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 9:58:44 PM
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Troy Powers
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 11:59:42 PM
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Scarecrow
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 10:03:07 PM
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If there's ONE thing I love 'bout the USA is freedom of speech and expression
As long as it's not racist or has any kind of message against specific persons or groups then no let freedom of speech and expression shine!
If anything she should complain 'bout all the sh*t we see in movies and even American cartoons.
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Troy Powers
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 11:58:38 PM
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LegendaryWolfeh
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:59:33 AM
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Luiscosmo2
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 7:26:34 AM
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NoSmokingBandit
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 10:08:18 PM
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6 up, 0 down
arctic
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 10:13:51 PM
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SerichA
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 10:16:35 PM
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ImTheMan
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 10:19:04 PM
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BigTonesAUS
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 10:26:31 PM
2 up, 1 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 10:28:26 PM
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NiteKrawler
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 10:31:06 PM
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Daedusian
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 10:17:25 AM
Last edited by Daedusian on 3/16/2009 10:17:55 AM
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CH1N00K
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:45:01 PM
Last edited by CH1N00K on 3/16/2009 12:45:30 PM
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NiteKrawler
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 3:25:55 PM
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Daedusian
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 8:23:47 PM
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NiteKrawler
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 9:32:48 PM
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Robochic
Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 11:03:56 PM
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Troy Powers
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:01:51 AM
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5 up, 0 down
Banky A
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:47:02 AM
I played it at a mates place 2 days ago and after just 2 hours - the online is *a lot* better than COD (4 & 5) in my opinion.
And the graphics Online still stay insane!!
EDIT: A lot better than COD
Last edited by Banky A on 3/16/2009 12:49:12 AM
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Qubex
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 3:03:08 AM
The sales figures of 1 000 000 are disappointing though; I thought we would be in the 4-5 million mark by now :(
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 3/16/2009 3:03:42 AM
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Fenrir
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 3:39:49 AM
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TheRaPtuRe
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 6:54:23 AM
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conspiracy against games 4 sure!
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Tim Speed24
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 7:13:28 AM
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L7 385T
Last edited by Tim Speed24 on 3/16/2009 7:13:42 AM
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shindelion
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 7:25:25 AM
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infekt
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 9:12:47 AM
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coldbore
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:02:47 PM
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Neurotoxiny
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 9:50:21 AM
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Canada's great! I went there once there were like no gangsters and there was great ice cream and the cold weather was really stimulating!
And I have this awesome friend in Canada, one of the first to convert his religion to PS3-ism and bought a PS3 when it first came out with "The Darkness". Everyone seems to have forgotten that game though.
But I really dunno why anybody would be fussing about a helmet. I mean, seriously, it does look menacing, but it's not like it's a figurine or nothing; It's a poster!
They should take them down if the kids are skipping school because of these posters; just another reason for parents to disavow video games like GTA:IV.
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Orvisman
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 10:12:28 AM
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Actually, this story has probably drawn more attention to the game from the mainstream media than Sony's currently feeble marketing/Ad group could drum up on their own.
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Daedusian
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 10:24:53 AM
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Last edited by Daedusian on 3/16/2009 10:26:14 AM
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photo K
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 11:08:31 AM
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coldbore
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:15:06 PM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 12:32:38 PM
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CH1N00K
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 1:01:56 PM
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A dark Poster with Glowing eyes? Come on! The guy is a teacher, use that poster as a way to educate the kids, instead of making them fear it.
Same goes for the parents of a 3 year old.
This is like the religious fanatics wanting AC/DC banned back in the 80's because someone said that their name stood for "Anti-Christ/Devils Children"
What is wrong with people? Stop sheltering your kids! Show them what the real world is like, so that they can grow up to run it/fix it, instead of cowering with fear in their homes, like their parents.
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FeyeR
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 1:38:02 PM
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10000% agree with you last paragraph
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Jed
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 2:38:46 PM
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As for the teacher, what a moron. Why would she wait until now, and pick Killzone to bring up that subject? Has she not watched any TV, movies, or listened to any music? There are tons of refrences to war zones in all of that crap. Not to mention the THOUSANDS of war videogames that have come before Killzone.
Last edited by Jed on 3/16/2009 2:39:47 PM
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shaydey77
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 @ 5:00:03 PM
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Wage SLAVES
Thursday, March 19, 2009 @ 10:28:12 PM
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BTW I dont believe in evolution.
Last edited by Wage SLAVES on 3/19/2009 10:29:18 PM
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Victor321
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Sunday, March 15, 2009 @ 9:56:49 PM
What an odd story....it just seems so....stupid.
When my little cousins saw it they were like "Sweet Victor! You're getting that game? Boy that game looks cool!" or something like that.
Sides, where does Iraq come from...? Sony tries to advertise, look what happens =(
But then again, the boy was 3 years old, so I feel sad for him that he was scared (my little cousins were all older).
Well, here's hoping the little boy feels better =)